


STRQ Delights

by Aurora313



Category: RWBY
Genre: Canon Divergent, F/M, Gen, Happy AU, NOTHING BAD EVER HAPPENED, Qrow is Ruby's father, Raven Stayed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2018-11-14 09:51:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11205582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aurora313/pseuds/Aurora313
Summary: Raising children can be hard, but that doesn't mean it can't be funny. ((A series of STRQ Family drabbles))





	1. Dibs

"She's not making this easy." Taiyang noted disappointingly as all four adults stared down at the baby tucked away in her cot, swaddled in a pink and floral themed blanket. Even at this minute age, Ruby had enough hair to be gathered in a tiny pigtail, topped with a bow.

Ruby had been born ten days ago and brought home yesterday, from the looks of things she inherited every piece of her mother and absolutely nothing to hint at who the father was.

Granted, in this household - in this relationship; the answer was ultimately an irrelevant one but a persisted curiosity none the less. As was human nature. So after wrangling a grumpy hyperactive two year old into bed for her afternoon nap, the four adults of the household found themselves in the nursery for one excuse or another.

"And we're completely sure we didn't just spontaneously spawn a Summer clone by mistake?"

"Raven!" Summer hissed.

"What? Valid question. And Tai is right, she's not making this particularly easy." Raven

"Does it matter? We're all raising her together anyway." Summer protested.

"Yeah I know we are, but I'm still just a little curious which half of this marriage she takes after. The Xiao Long or the Branwen." Taiyang mused.

The next moment stretched on. Little Ruby was making adorable little sounds in her sleep while the adults watched in silence.

"Dibs."

All three pairs of eyes landed on Qrow. It took a split second for the rest of the team to understand what he said.

"What? You two already have a kid."

"Qrow, _no_." Summer groaned, face in her palm.

"I have one of those?" Raven cocked her head to the side, giving a show of confusion before showing understanding and gesturing to her brother and Taiyang in turn. "Oh _right_ \- I have two of those."

Qrow glared at her while Taiyang folded his arms petulantly at the insult, Raven only smirked. "Oh I'm sorry, I thought we were talking about man-babies, not 'baby' babies."

"Hate, sis. All of it." Qrow shook his head at her while Raven winked back at him.

"Oh dear gods," Taiyang breathed, torn between chuckling or sighing in exasperation.

Summer groaned again, fixing Qrow with a firm look. "Qrow, you can't just call dibs on a _baby_."

Qrow shrugged, unperturbed. "I can and I have; _dibs_."

Taiyang gave a bark of laughter, Raven stared at her brother like he'd just grown a second head while Summer sighed again.


	2. Cuter

For once, Summer hoped against hope that this would be a nice peaceful lunch. Taiyang was at the barbecue, the kids- a two and a half year old Yang and seven month old Ruby, were playing happily on the floor under the supervision of Qrow. Raven was puttering about setting the table for lunch and made a quick toss salad. Summer doubted Yang or Ruby could be tempted to each such things given their young ages, but Summer was an optimist.

One day they'll - or Yang at least, will eat her greens without spitting them up and calling them 'yucky'.

All and all, when Summer went upstairs to freshen up, it was truly an idyllic afternoon. A thought well and truly squashed when she came down stairs.

" _Excuse me_ -!" Qrow was irritated, looking up from his seat at his sister. Raven had settled the girls in their high chairs.

"You're excused."

"Ruby is _adorable_."

Raven rolled her eyes with a scoff. "Oh _please_. How adorable can she be, given she's _your_ progeny?"

"I remind you, dear sister, we are twins. We share the same blood."

Raven shot him a mischievous smirk. "And you know how _difficult_ its been to wash your stain out?"

"Only about as hard as cleaning up after you for the last twenty-five years. How many times have you screwed up and needed big brother to bail you out?"

"Only half as many times as you blundered. And seventeen minutes hardly makes you older than me, considering you spend your time acting like you're still seven."

"Siblings!" Taiyang managed to insert himself between the two after setting the platter of meat on the table. "C'mon guys, take it outside, or lock it down."

"Guys, you both made beautiful babies - there's no need to argue." Summer tried to reason. "C'mon, lets just have a nice family lunch together, alright?"

The two bickering siblings looked at their former team leader, now wife and sister-in-law before coinciding to her request, wearing nearly identical pouts that almost made Summer laugh. She exhaled quietly in relief and Tai simply shrugged at her before they all sat at the table.

Summer smiled as they all started serving themselves food, satisfied any further arguments were quelled for the day.

Maybe she shouldn't have jinxed herself. Raven glowered at her brother as she drank from a tall wine glass, Qrow returned with a challenging glare of his own.

"Yang's cuter."

"Fight me."

" _BIRDS!_ "

All eyes turned on Summer who huffed disapprovingly. "Qrow, stop antagonising your sister."

Taiyang hid his smile behind his beer, while Raven smirked in smug victory. Qrow slumped back in his chair with a pout.

Summer grinned. "Also Raven, you're wrong. Ruby's cuter."

"Fight me." Raven and Taiyang shot back in unison.


	3. Spider Troubles

"Maaaamaaa!"

Reclined on the lounge downstairs, Raven scantly looked up from the gripping novel she was reading when the tiny four year old came barrelling down the stairs, tears in her giant lilac eyes.

"Mama! There's a-a-a s-s-spider i-in the toilet!" Yang gripped her mother's hand tightly, tears trailing down her face. "Its scawy! C-can you kill it?"

_Oh hell no!_

Pushing down her own ridiculous primal fear of the eight legged freaks, Raven marked the page and folded her hands over the closed book with a pondering look.

"You're a big girl, Drakeling, you need to learn not to be scared of these things." Raven told her patiently.

"B-but its big! With _huuuuuuge_ legs and _huuuuuge_ teeth! I-its scary!" Yang insisted, her lip wobbling slightly.

Raven sighed. "Yang, sweetheart. Lets play the comparisons game, okay? Now... exactly how big is the spider?"

Yang held her arms out as wide as she could. Raven cocked an eyebrow. Yang's measurement shrank a little before slowly bringing her hands together in barely a centimeter apart.

"And how big are you?" Raven questioned.

Yang shot a hand right up in the air and Raven looked at her, expectantly. The tears slowly stopped, and a creeping realization came over the four year's features. Then her face became fierce with determination as Yang charged back up stairs yelling a war cry.

Satisfied her job was done, and one less eight legged menace was in the world, Raven reclined again with a contented sound.

_**CRASH!** _

"Mama! I kills it!" Yang called from upstairs in triumphant.

 _'Killed'._ Raven mentally corrected. _That's my girl._

"Heya kiddo. What was that noise? Are you ok - _WHY IS THERE A HOLE IN THE WALL_!?"

A second later. "RAVEN!" came Taiyang's angry voice.

Raven stared up at the second floor landing where her irritated husband stood, gave an unrepentant shrug and picked up her reading where she left off.


	4. Gamer Rage

"Victory! Flaming Dragon."

"Yes!" Yang cheered, pumping her fists before grinning smugly at her uncle. "Kicked your butt again, Uncle Qrow."

From her vantage point in the kitchen, Summer could see Qrow and Yang playing some new game Taiyang had bought for the kids last week. He'd apparently decided that eight was old enough for the cartoonish fighting game. And Qrow had sportingly agreed to play after Ruby declined.

Apparently Ruby was working on something in the shed she didn't want any of the grown-ups to know about yet. Something 'super awesome and super secret' she claimed.

As for Raven and Tai? Well, they were out for a night on the town, to have some more... ahem, _adult_ fun.

"Maybe I should teach you a few combos, Uncle Qrow. Let you learn from the real master." Yang offered boastfully and Summer rolled her eyes.

"Don't get cocky kiddo, I know a few tricks yet." Qrow answered with a shrug and confident smile.

Summer leaned from the doorway. "Yang, sweetie. The cookies will be done in about five minutes; do you wanna go tell your sister?"

Yang turned around with a smile. "Okay Aunt Sum, but can I tell her after this game, _pleeeease_? I'm kicking Uncle Qrow's butt and I just need one more round to win the game!"

 _Oh yeah, like that'll end well._ Summer thought in amusement when Qrow used the distraction to deftly swipe Yang's controller and hide it in his back pocket.

 _Well, he wasn't a spy for nothing._ Then Summer vaguely wondered if Qrow knew about Yang's semblance yet...?

"Wouldn't be so sure..." Qrow mused with a vague smile.

" _And_ he promised he'd make chocolate chip pancakes in the morning if I did!" Yang finished happily.

"Did he now?" Summer raised an eyebrow at him and Qrow shrugged.

"Okay, sweetie. Good luck. But he's sneaky, your Uncle."

"Thanks Mum!" Yang cheered as Summer retreated into the kitchen.

A second later, there was a growl of anger then-

"HOLY CRAP!"

Summer clapped both hands over her mouth to hide her giggling when she peered back around the corner, watching Qrow backed away from his walking fireball of a niece in alarm. "My niece is on fire; Summer, why is my niece on fire!?"


	5. Thunderstorms

_**CRASH!** _

Ruby snapped awake instantly, saw the dark world outside and curled back under her sheets almost immediately. She peaked out from under the blankets, watching giant splotches of rain smash against her bedroom window like hammers.

_**CRASH!** _

Another flash of white, another thunderous sound and Ruby was under her covers again, eyes stinging with tears and her lip trembling. A stray thought crossed her mind, but she pushed it away.

No! she told herself. She was a big girl now. She had to be brave. Daddy and Mummy were always brave, they were never scared of some silly weather.

Mummy was always going out on missions all the time, she was even out on a mission right now – fighting bad guys and helping people. Ruby tried to grasp that thought, that her mummy was being brave and she didn't have the comfort of a warm blankie or Daddy in the next room. But another crash outside and rumbling swiftly cut off those attempts before Ruby could even finishing thinking about it.

In a second she was out of bed, and running towards the master bedroom.

Daddy wouldn't mind just for one night, would he?

"Ruby…" Her father said almost the second she was at the bedroom door, and Ruby could see one red eye glowing dimly in the dark, looking at her.

"D-daddy… can I sleep with you tonight…?" her voice was tiny, even for her.

"What's up, kiddo?" Her father raised an eyebrow, though she couldn't see it in the dark. His eyes softened.

"The storm…?" Her father's gravelly voice was quiet, but even against the noise of the storm, Ruby could hear it perfectly.

_**CRASH!** _

Ruby squeaked in fright as another thunderous sound and white flash crossed the room, almost as if the weather itself was offering an opinion on the matter. The four-year-old sniffled and nodded, her hands wringing together in a mix of fear and shame. She should have known this was stupid! Daddy would just send her back to bed, telling her that it wasn't anything to worry about!

But then Ruby heard the bed shift and watched the shadow outline of her father raise the blanket, his spare hand tapped the space besides him.

Ruby dashed across the room in an instant and climbed onto the bed, the covers fell and she snuggled close to his chest. Already his warmth soothed her fears like a balm.

"Its okay, Petal…" her father whispered quietly, his large hand rubbing circles in her back. The ministrations slowly lulled Ruby back to sleep, her father's comforting words following her to the world of dreams.

"Daddy's here, he'll always protect you."


	6. Panic

Raven exhaled in relief when the front door came into view, what she didn't expect was to be bodily crashed into by her husband.

"Oh thank gods, you're home!" He practically screamed in a panic, crushing the life out of her in a hug. Raven squirmed out of his grip, pushing him away.

"Wha - I was gone for ten minutes, what happened?" Raven demanded, arms crossed as scowling at him.

"Its Yang, she-" that was about all she could get out of him.

"Bloody hell, you had one job!" Raven groaned, rolling her eyes before spotting a flash of yellow speed across the living room... was that peeping she heard?

Her exasperation gave over to nonchalance. "Tai, why is there a canar- _ooooh_ \- okay, yeah I see what's going on here..."

"Yang and I were sparring,"

"As you often do,"

"And she did her little power-up - you know how she does that cute fist bump thing, the next thing I know she _explodes into flames_! And when that burns out... this-" Taiyang gestures frantically at Yang. "- _happened_."

Raven looked between him, then her daughter's canary form. "Hmm." She hummed.

Taiyang turned back to her, pleadingly. "So... can you do something about this?!"

"Of course I can do something about it," Raven said breezily, fishing her scroll out to take a picture. "I'm boasting."

"B-Boasting?!" Tai sputtered, gesturing wildly to the little yellow canary that seemed to be rather enjoying its flight around the room, barring crashing into objects. "Raven, our baby is a little canary!?"

" _And..._ I'm boasting." She replied with a nonchalant smile.

Taiyang stared at the woman, his mouth hung open slackly while she observed her scroll for a response, then gave a mean bark of laughter when it chimed with a response.

_**Elsewhere.** _

"Qrow, its not a competition!" Summer doubled in side splitting laughter, her husband's pouting looked more sulky than Ruby when she was put down for her nap an hour ago.

"Says you." He grumbled petulantly.


	7. Price of Freedom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was an AU brainchild of mine a few months back, about half way through season 4. Basically Raven ditched the tribe and it had consequences - namely, she lost a hand in the process. There will be a part two later down the line.
> 
> I also forgot I hadn't updated it on the Ao3 post. So. Sorry, you've been several months without this chapter. And yes, I'm getting back into STRQ Delights.

**Price of Freedom**

"Gods. _Really_? You're so scared of your wife, you send your little drakeling to wake her up?"

They were often the first words Yang would hear from her mother of a weekend morning.

As always, Yang would wake up bright and earlier with the sun, and her father was already down in the kitchen making a nice hot breakfast. He'd always give Yang a big bear hug and let her watch some morning TV cartoons in the living room before asking her to go wake up Mummy.

Yang giggled like a maniac as she always did at the remark. Raven looked at her, her usually hard red stare softened considerably and took on a mischievous glint.

"Well, you woke up mother. You know what comes next kiddo, I'll have to punish you for that. C'mere!" A wicked grin spread across Raven's face.

Her mother's hand snatched the back of Yang's pajama tunic before the little girl could even think to run. With one quick motion, Raven hoisted the three-year-old onto the bed, lifted the shirt off Yang stomach and blew raspberries on her stomach. Hard.

Yang kicked and squealed with delighted. Tears of laughter trailing down her cheeks under her mother's relentless assault that halted abruptly.

Raven gave her daughter a good-natured shove off the bed, Yang landed on her feet as she always did, straightened her shirt and wiped the tears from her eyes with her fists. Rather than get up however, Raven resolved to roll on her side and pull the covers over her shoulders again.

"C'mon mummy, daddy says breakie is ready!" Yang protested, her smile quite absent as she clambered onto the king bed and shook Raven's shoulder.

"Daddy can bring it to Mummy." Raven answered back.

Yang couldn't see it, but the corner of her lips turned up in a smirk.

"Maaaaama!" Yang whined, she hopped off the bed, crossed her arms petulantly and puffed her cheeks out in a pout. "You _always_ say that."

Raven rolled back over to give her daughter with a crooked smile and poked her nose with every word. "Maybe Daddy should take a hint?"

"Mummy. _Breakie_." Yang insisted, stomping her foot down with a chubby digit shoved towards the door. Raven's smirk only grew.

"Yeah, yeah." Covering a yawn with her hand, Raven tossed aside the covers, moving to stand when Yang grasped her right false hand to help to pull her up.

Yang's perpetual bright smile returned to her face as she dragged her mother from the bedroom.

Mummy had a metal hand.

Other mums and kids at pre-school thought it was scary, but Yang knew it was only scary to the Grimm and other bad guys… and during the winter, when Mummy was teasing Daddy and Uncle Qrow. Her hand was obviously fake, the metal covered about half way up to her elbow and the paint looked worn from age. The outside plates were bright red like her war gear and the joints were a dark greyish-black.

Yang didn't remember how her Mummy got the metal hand, and whenever Yang asked out of innocent curiosity, Mummy would start telling the story only for her father to shut it down.

_'It doesn't matter anymore, okay? We're all here and safe, and that's all that matters.'_

Yang may have only been three, but she was smart. Uncle Qrow always said so. She knew whatever happened must have been _huge_. Huge enough that even Auntie Summer wouldn't say much about it, and Uncle Qrow kept his lips pretty much sealed too.

Regardless of the truth; Yang hoped that maybe when she was old enough, Daddy would let Mummy tell her the full story.

"I'm up, I'm up." Raven sighed, planting her hands on her hips. Her red eyes firmly on her daughter before the corner of her lips curled up into a smirk.

"Time to take the trash out, I think." She joked. Yang squealed again when Raven caught her daughter under the armpits and threw Yang over her shoulder.

"Not trash, mummy! I'm a kid!" Yang cheered happily, her tiny feet kicking as she squirmed in her mother's grip.

"Oh, I'm sorry; what was that? I'm sorry I can't understand the trash talking." Raven responded with a jovial tone, waking down stairs to the kitchen.

"M'not trash!" Yang laughed again, waving her arms and legs this time. Raven rolled her eyes in amusement, finding her way into the living room.

The Breakfast table was large enough to host six people, and six places had been set out, but there was no sign of her brother, Summer or the little rosebud.

She was about to question it, when another question cut her off.

"What are you doing?" Tai sighed from the stove, portioning off rations of bacon, scrambled eggs, sausages and other food stuffs on to three plates. He took one glimpse at his wife and daughter before shaking his head.

"Taking the garbage out." Raven shot back coolly with a shrug, making her way to the kitchen's back door.

"Raven, _no_." Tai told her firmly. Raven shot a challenging look his way and Tai smirked in response. "Besides, you think _I_ haven't tried? Sadly, she knows her way back."

"Oh _fiiiine_ ," Raven drawled in mock-exasperation, shifting Yang to balance comfortably on her hip and pulled her nose with her right hand. "Guess there's no choice; I'll just _have_ to keep you, won't I Drakeling?"

"Yep!" Yang shoved her fists into the air while Raven moved to settle her in her raised chair while Tai set down the plates for breakfast. Raven smirked as she sauntered over.

"Hey," She greeted, a quiet subdued smile on her face.

"Hey yourself." Tai replied, his arms snaking around her waist and pulling her in for an innocent enough kiss, which quickly turned not-so-innocent.

"Careful," Raven hummed against his lips. "If I didn't know better, I'd say someone missed me."

"Can't possibly imagine who," Tai shot back impishly.

"Well, if you must know," Raven gave an exaggerated dramatic sigh, "There's this one guy I see every now and again. Pretty sure he's got the hots for the tall, dark and tribal kind. Maybe you know him? Tall, great abs, great _ass_." She punctuated her point but stealing a quick squeeze of his behind.

"You know it." He growled, pulling her closer for another passionate kiss and completely forgetting of their young daughter in the room.

" _Eew_! Daddy! Stop messing with mummy and eat breakie!" Yang's face scrunched up in disgust and she poked her tongue out. "Its _yucky_!"

"What's yucky? The breakfast I made? That hurts, Yang." Tai broke from his wife's embrace and squatted down by Yang's chair, a pout on his face.

Yang just laughed and shook her head, her wavy pigtails flowing as she did. "No! Messing with Mummy! Its yucky!"

Raven snorted, helping herself to some coffee before sitting herself down across from her daughter. "Oh boy, kiddo, do I have some things to say about _that_." she muttered into the cup. Tai shot her a dirty look, before continuing his act.

"But messing with mummy is how I got you, kiddo." Tai grinned, leaning up to blow raspberries on hers cheek.

" _Eeeeeew_!"

Taiy laughed while continuing to blow raspberries and Raven seized the opportunity to pinch a sausage off his plate. An effort thwarted when his hand snapped around and caught her wrist.

"Oh, I see what's going on here." Tai accused, sitting at his chair while sending childish accusatory looks towards Yang and Raven in turn. "My two beautiful girls are ganging up on me, aren't they?"

"No!" Yang chirped happily.

"Always." Raven deadpanned.

"Only cause Mummy said it was okay." Yang declared innocently.

"Traitor." Raven reached over and poke her nose.


	8. On a Winter's Eve

In the midst of winter, a roaring fire crackled away in the living room, filling the large two story cabin with a homely warmth. It's a modest looking house with a wooden porch, a small backyard shed stationed behind it, and a herb garden surrounding the footpath leading between the two buildings.

Taiyang Xiao Long stood in the kitchen, humming a jaunty little tune to himself while he skinned and diced vegetables for a salad. He was dressed warmly, wearing a pair of simple brown track-pants and a yellow jumper, the sleeves of which he kept rolled up so they wouldn't get in the way of his food preparation. The main course was slow roasting in the over, a large chicken - with extra wings and drumstick pieces - stuffed with lemon, salts, garlic and other assorted herbs.

Even Zwei the family dog seemed determined to plant himself in front of the over door, panting and wagging his tiny tail in eager anticipation.

The front door swung open with a whiny creek of the hinges, stiff from the cold. A brief howling wind swooped through the foyer and the temperature (and the crackling fire) took a nosedive for that second. But as soon as it closed, the fire recovered to its former glory and the room began to grow delightfully warm again.

A slow tired fall of heels echoed softly on the carpet, growing louder and louder until they hit tile, where they clacked loudly until they stopped right behind him.

Zwei turned and barked an excited greeting, his paws padding and leaping around before scampering away after he received his customary scratch behind the ears in return.

Taiyang felt his lips curl into a fond smile when he felt a forehead rest between his broad shoulders with an exasperated exhale. No doubt, if she had a pillow, she'd be screaming her frustration into it right now.

"Rough mission, my love?" Taiyang teased lightly, scraping the vegetables into the salad bowl. A grunt was his reply.

"That good, huh?" Taiyang asked, glancing over his shoulder. All he could see was her quill-like hair rattling as she rolled her head side to side. "That good."

She grunted again, finally looking up at his sky blue eyes. "What's all this for?" She glanced to the side, where the bread maker stood away from the rest of the food. "Fresh baked bread too? My dragon's been busy, hasn't he… ?"

"We got a full house tonight, so I figure I'd pull out all the stops. And given the conditions…" He nodded out the window, where flakes of snow were starting to flutter to the ground. "It felt like roast weather."

"You know you can smell that from a hundred yards, don't you?" Raven informed him giggling indulgently, her arms slipping around Taiyang's waist and she snuggled into his back, murmuring something about a 'warm teddy bear' in a childish tone.

"I hope you mean that in a good way?" Taiyang asked in mock offence.

"I'm hungry, I want to eat it now. I don't even care it's not cooked yet." Raven answered plainly in a tone that promised she would do exactly that and damn the consequences.

"You have to wait a bit, Rae." Taiyang reminded her patiently, drying off his hands on a kitchen towel and peeling from Raven's embrace so he could turn, pulling her into a deep kiss.

"Missed me?" She stated with the air of a rhetorical question, smiling against his lips.

"Just a little." He whispered back with the understatement of the year, then pulled away, brushing Raven's bangs out of her exhausted face with a sympathetic look. His arms found their rest comfortably around the small of her back. "You look dead on your feet. How about you go have a shower and a nap? I'll wake you when dinner's ready."

Raven grumbled, her forehead resting on his collarbone. "Ugh, yes. Thank you. Gods know I need one."

She looked utterly drained, mentally and physically, and Taiyang had a feeling that if it weren't for him standing here, she'd be asleep on her feet.

"I wasn't going to say anything." Taiyang chortled lightly, and Raven batted his chest playfully with an irritable pout before breaking the embrace.

She scrunched her nose. "Seriously, I have  _never_  dealt with a larger group of incompetent idiots in my life. And we had you and Qrow on our team!"

"We weren't incompetent; we were very competent!" Taiyang defended hastily, his nursing his wounded pride. Raven raised a dark eyebrow at him. "We just competently got ourselves into trouble on a regular basis."

"The armoury incident comes to mind. Which idiot decided to add a dust chamber to an already highly volatile kinetic warhammer?"

"In my defence, I thought I properly disengaged the fuse…?" Taiyang offered with an awkward shrug and faux-innocent smile that couldn't quite reach his ears. Raven rolled her eyes with a huff.

"If I have to see any one of those imbeciles again, I will kick their asses off a cliff." She declared, stalking out the kitchen and down the hallway while muttering bitter words not typically associated with pleasant conversation.

"Not all of them can fly, Rae. I hope you remember that?" Taiyang called after her.

He instantly heard Raven turn back and lean in through door, already half undressed. "And that is precisely the kind of issue that sounds like their problem, not mine." She turned and left again, while Taiyang shook his head with a chuckle.

Taiyang could hear the water rushing from the shower only a few seconds after she left, and the deep sigh of satisfaction from the other room.

It doesn't take long for Taiyang to finish making the salad. As soon as it's ready, he placed it in the fridge and a chime from the other side of the kitchen snatched his attention. The breadmaker. No sooner had he retrieved the bread and let it sit did the door swing open, and again the room took an abrupt notable dip in temperature.

"Thank. You. GODS!" Taiyang heard from the front door. It was Qrow who quickly ducked inside the foyer and slammed the door shut, shivering and his teeth near jittering. "Whichever asshole thought inventing winter was a good idea deserves a punch in the dick."

Taiyang rolled his eyes. "Hey man. Welcome back."

"Hey." He greeted back gruffly, setting his weapon down at the rack by the door and moving to the fire.

"That's right, you birds hate cold weather don't ya? Wuss." Taiyang teased, causing Qrow to turn and promptly flashing him a false smile while flipping him off.

"Qrow, stop harassing your brother-in-law." Raven's voice carried a tone of weary amusement, and Qrow childish struck his tongue out at her when she reentered the living room, wearing black track pants and what was doubtlessly one of Tai's winter-weight jackets since it was clearly too big for her. "How positively mature of you, baby brother."

"He started it." Qrow grumbled, folding his arms grumpily but then his lip twitched into a lopsided smirk. "Twenty-three minutes hardly makes you older than me, dear sister. Besides, boast all you want, at least I don't need heels to look tall." He teased, and Raven's temper snapped like a cane.

She was across the room in a flash, aiming to have her brother in a headlock. Unfortunately, he was a little too quick and her red eyes flashed with fury as he easily ducked out of her way.

"I'm not short!" She snapped, an irritated look flickered across her features while he laughed in her face.

"Qrow, stop provoking your sister." Taiyang ordered casually, entering the living room and slumping in the lounge chair by the fire - a particularly choice spot in this climate.

Dinner preparation was complete, all that really remained was for the roast to finish. That would be three quarters of an hour on the outside.

"Ah, c'mon. It's not my fault her sense of humour's in short supply - ow!" Qrow began pointing at Raven before she stomped painfully on his foot.

Through the minor pain Qrow simply grinned the way only a little brother could when they were up to no good. Raven glowered in return with her arms folded grumpily before she plopped herself down by Taiyang and leaned against him, his arm slide around her shoulder and held her close.

"Which gods did I piss off in a previous life to get you as a twin?" Raven jutted her chin at him.

"You're life would be boring as hell without me and you know it, sis." Qrow winked at her.

"Qrow." Taiyang warned lightly, shaking his head.

"And exactly when were you on her side?" He asked, sitting cross legged on the rug by the fire and revelling in the warmth. Gods it was gonna suck when they had to get up for dinner.

"The day I got this." Taiyang flicked his hand up and wiggled his fingers, his wedding band glittering in the firelight. Raven gave a victorious little grin and snuggled closer to her husband.

"And I thought you had tastes buddy." Qrow shook his head in judgement, sighing in mock disappointment.

"I thought  _Summer_  had tastes." Taiyang shot back with an indifferent shrug and a snigger.

"Catty." Qrow brushed it off, leaning back on his palms and staring at the fire. It was starting look hungry, so he took an iron poker to prod the embers before tossing another log in the blaze and letting his hands hover. "Not gonna lie, kinda wish we had some marshmallows right now."

"Oh we got 'em, but I'm not cracking them 'til after dinner. I know you and sweets." Taiyang pointed an accusatory finger towards Qrow who gestured to himself with a look of pure innocence, seemingly aghast at the accusation.

"Brother. Who do you think you're trying to fool?" Raven sneered at him, a tormenting grin on her lips.

"Hey, I ain't the sweets addict here. You are." Qrow nodded towards his sister.

"Mmm… Nope." Raven popped the 'p', shaking her head lightly.

"Mmm… Yep." Qrow echoed the pop, nodding knowingly.

"Am not!" She snapped back, getting irritated once again.

"Oh my sweet dear sister. Denial's such an ugly thing." Qrow sounded sagely, shaking his head piteously. "You know, admitting there's a problem is the first step to solving it."

"Please back me up here." Raven's head whipped around to her husband who glanced between the two siblings uncertainly before deciding.

"I just live here." He answered nonchalantly.

Raven rolled her eyes dramatically with a pout while Qrow laughed her off. Taiyang grinned at her and pulled her close in a warm hug. Her pout didn't last long, as much as she tried to force it, especially since his stubble brushed against her cheek. And ticklish as she was, it was impossible for her to stop the giggle threatening beneath the surface.

"So anyway. Where's the kids at?" Qrow asked, focusing on the fire and ignoring them.

"Sum, Ruby and Yang are in the city; Girl's day out. Pretty sure you know Yang's headed to Beacon this year, right? Figure she wants to spend time with Ruby while she can."

"Oh my dear naive Tai." Raven sighed indulgently, patting his leg lightly. He shot her a strange look.

"What…? What am I missing here?" His gaze shifted quickly between the twins who both appeared grave and nodded. A second later, the pair snickered at worried his reaction.

Taiyang's jaw dropped before giving them both an irritated look. "Wha - oh, you two are a piece of work."

"Technically a couple pieces." Qrow snarked idly.

"He has a point."

Taiyang rolled his eyes. "Children." He groaned. "Just for that, I shouldn't let you two have any dinner."

"Not even me?" Raven asked, lip wobbling.

"Seems such a waste cooking all that food for one person." Qrow shrugged nonchalantly.

"Excuse you; Summer, Ruby and Yang too. Those girls are the three biggest binge eaters I've  _ever_  seen." Taiyang listed off on his fingers, then closed his eyes and conceded the point. "But then again, two of 'em are growing girls, they need all the help they can get. Not too sure where Summer puts it all though, her stomach's like a bottomless pit."

"Well, if it spares us the cannibalism then I guess it must be done." Qrow sighed, making it appear if this'd be a great sacrifice on their part. Taiyang yanked a lounge cushion from under him and pinwheeled it at his brother-in-law. Qrow merely caught it and used it as a pillow, smirking lopsidedly at him in turn. "Just what I needed. Thanks dumbass."

Taiyang stared at him blankly. "It's hard to believe people thought it was a good idea to put you in charge of children."

"And yet, Summer trusts him with Ruby." Raven replied, gesturing to her brother.

"Ruby's mine too, ya know." Qrow frowned at her.

"Oh please, how could I possibly forget?" Raven answered, turning to Taiyang. "Do you remember how he was when Ruby was born? Flashing pictures to every and anyone who'd sit still long enough."

" _What_?!"

"Then there was the video of her taking her first steps." Taiyang added oh-so-helpfully.

"I most certainly did  _not_!" Qrow defended indignantly.

"Then it was the video of her first words." Raven continued, listing off the moments and pretending her brother no longer existed.

Taiyang shook his head with a rueful smile. "God only knows what he's gonna do when she discovers boys."

"That's what my Scythe's for." Qrow supplied grumpily.


End file.
